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(No Modem A. J.WELANDER. BOX.

No. 557,461. Patented Mar. 31, 1896.

...MM n un ummm wnummnn n c UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

ANDREV J. IVELANDER, OF OMAHA, NEBRASKA.

BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 557,461, dated March 31, 1896.

Application filed .Tanuary 16, 1896. Serial No. 57 5 ,745. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatI, ANDREW J. WELANDER, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at` Omaha, in the county of Douglas and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Boxes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The object of this invention is to provide a seamless box or receptacle which is stamped or pressed from a single sheet of leather or analogous material, the leather being reduced at the intersection of the lid with the body lportion to provide, practically, a spring-hin ge,

and the lid has a reinforcing-piece attached to the under side thereof to bear against the front edge of the body portion and retain the lid closed.

In carrying out my invention I prefer to use leather, and by the employment of suitable dies stamp or press the blank into the desired form, the leather being treated or impregnated with a stiifening substance, such as shellac or mastic.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure l is a plan view of the blank from which the box is stamped. Fig. 2 is a sectional view oil the line 2 2 of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of the completed article, and Fig. 4. is a perspective view.

The blank is shaped to present an enlarged portion A and an extension A of smaller size, the latter forming the'cover or lid of the box, While the part A is stamped to provide the body portion thereof. At the intersection of the parts A and A' the leather is reduced in thickness to provide a flexible joint.

In making the box the part A of the blank is iirst softened and then placed in the dies and pressed or stamped to form the body portion of the box, consisting of the bottom and sides, and the cover or lid is provided with a tapered reinforcing-piece A3, which, when said lid is closed down upon the upper edges of the body portion, will impinge against the same and hold the lid closed, the upper part of the front of the box being provided with a recess d for convenience in disengaging the lid. Vhen the lid is disengaged from the body portion, the flexible joint will act to throw the same back, and this joint may be softened by the application of oil thereto.

It will be noted that a box constructed as herein shown and described provides a very simple,neat, and convenient receptacle,which can be used as a match-safe, snuff-box, or for other purposes.

The box can be colored or ornamented, if desired. l

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. As an improved article of manufacture, a seamless box made up of a single piece of leather or other analogous material, the material at the intersection of the lid with the body portion being reduced in thickness to provide a iiexible hinge, substantially as shown and described.

2. A box stamped or pressed from a single sheet of leather or analogous material to present a seamless body portion and integral cover or lid, the material at the intersection of the body portion and lid being reduced in thickness, the lid having attached thereto or formed thereon a reinforcing-piece which impinges against the sides of the body portion, substantially as shown and described.

3. As an improved article of manufacture, a box made up of a single sheet of material which is stamped or formed to provide a body portion and a cover or lid. integral therewith, the material being reduced at the intersection of the lid and body portion, and a tapered reinforcing-piece attached to or formed on the under side of the lid, the thicker portion of the reinforcing-piece being at the front end of the lid, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

ANDREW J. WELANDER.

Witnesses JOHN F. FLAcK, C. M. RYLANDER. 

